The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

August 18th, 2018 11:13 pm

We left Zion and headed to Tuba. We didn’t really want to go this way but our Garman would not take us on Highway 64, the road from Cameron to the Grand Canyon. Our Garmin has the dimensions of the coach plugged in so we can be warned about low bridges etc. Having to go the longer way meant we needed to spend the night in Tuba. Tuba is in Navajo country and is as Indian as it gets, it was good to be immersed in this culture. I went shopping at the local supermarket which I also think is a good litmus test for the wider community. It was quite a large supermarket and had a good variety of products, but many shelves were empty. I got the impression that there is not much money in this area. There was a loose horse at the edge of the carpark grazing on the what little grass there is around. Each checkout had a cute lantern light to indicate they were open-never seen that before!

It was a peaceful night in Tuba and the next day we headed towards the Grand Canyon. The drive from Tuba was quite a boring drive. After days of scenic vista’s this seemed disappointing! It was a long drive and we pulled into the camper village campsite in Yavapai, Grand Canyon in the afternoon feeling quite tired. Once we had chilled out, we took a walk around the village and visited the National Geographic centre. This place has an Imax theatre that plays a movie about the Grand Canyons hidden secrets every hour. We watched the movie which was informative and gives some great flyover views of the GC and insights into it’s history.

The next day we decided to make a rest day as we have 4 nights here. We wanted to take a drive on Highway 64 to see why the Garmin wanted to take us on such a long detour. There was no reason at all. It was a better road than the one we came in on which was a real bone shaker. It was good to do this reconnoiter for a future year, but disappointing that we lost a night and half a tank of diesel doing a trip we didn’t want to do. Next time Mrs Garmin wants to take us on a detour we will do more research into why…!

30 miles out from Cameron we turned back. Approaching the GC from the east entrance on the south rim is very scenic and exciting. Lots of pull outs for majestic views, far reaching over the canyon. On this eastern entrance you enter the park.

Once in the park we explored the village area and the two campgrounds nearby, the Mather and Trailer Park. These are much nicer parks than the one we are staying in. The Mather cannot take a coach our size -30 ft is the limit, but the Trailer Park has full hook ups and can take big coaches. This area is near Hermits Rest which is where the train pulls into from Williams, Az.

Our initial impressions of the Grand Canyon are that it is a very impressive environment. It’s so huge it’s hard to take it in. It’s really different to Bryce and Zion that you can see in a day-this place is big!

Back to the coach as the thunder boomed and the rain came down. We will enjoy our restful afternoon as we pause before walking the South Kaibab Trail tomorrow, a hard 6 km walk into the Canyon.